.bk A9
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.fd excavation summary
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-sy This past season has been an incredibly exciting and rewarding experience for me, in terms of both archaeological discoveries and personal accomplishment.  A9 has proved a remarkably rich and varied excavation area, furnishing all of the hope, all of the discovery, and certainly all of the disappointments that an archaeologist must be prepared to face in his effort to understand the world that he is uncovering.  My understanding of archaeological methods and theory has increased dramatically, and my experience this season has helped cement my goals for my studies in the short term and my life in the long term.  Much of this growth I owe directly to my area director, Jim Walker, to whom I am indebted for his guidance and friendship this past season.  Rather than relegating my to a minor role in excavation functioning, he expected me to take nearly as full a part as he did in the direction and understanding of the square, resulting in a much broader perspective for me of the needs and rewards of archaeology.  A great deal of thanks is also due to Professors Giorgio and Marilyn Buccellati, for giving me the opportunity to join their team at Tell Mozan for the third consecutive season, and for continually challenging me to acquire new skills and accept greater responsibilities.  These changes would not have occurred without their influence.
-sy As regards A9 itself, this was a productive and informative year.  We confirmed some of our original hypotheses about the courtyard, for instance that the brick pavement does extend all of the way underneath the pebble floor, or that the much sought-after east wall of the courtyard does indeed exist.  On the other had, we were also presented with many new problems to consider.  Although the east wall of the courtyard has been found, the north and west walls are still missing, raising questions about the boundaries of the courtyard and its actual size.  Also, we uncovered a beautiful baked brick platform with bi-colored bricks, but its purpose is still a mystery.  Other important finds included a small lead charm in the shape of a woman (perhaps the same goddess as the A12 statuette), and a bronze axe-head that is almost perfectly intact.  Finally, many seal impressions were uncovered at or near the courtyard level, which, when studied fully, will provide a great deal of important historical information for that level.
-sy These discoveries, and even some of the problems, have assisted us in understanding the stratigraphy of A9.  First of all, the two distinct pavements in the courtyard, the baked brick floor and the pebble floor on top of it, establish for us two seperate phases of palace use and occupation.  Beyond that, there is significant evidence of the reuse of palace architecture, including stones which could have possibly come from the foundations of the western wall, for new and sometimes inexplicable living arrangements.  It seems from the many floors which we discovered that life did continue inside the courtyard for many years, although it was probably not a palace at that time.  Afterwards, there is a period of scattered occupation, the first to not use the courtyard walls (which had since been buried or collapsed in the eastern part of the courtyard) and the only inhabitants until the much later Khabur period.  Since much of A9 was dug two years ago, most of our evidence of Khabur occupation comes from our upper loci and occasional pits reaching down into lower strata.  Finally, there is a period of very scattered occupation before the modern era and the bare accumulation on top of the tell.
-sy A9 was truly blessed with a wonderful excavating season.  We had a number of highly skilled workers, both in picking and in other fields, such as relaying or drawing sections, that allowed us to function more as archaeologists and less as lot-making machines.  Our discoveries, although modest, complemented the discoveries in the rest of the palace building very well, offering another look at the picture of Urkesh, but from a different angle.  More importantly, in fact, we have not only acquired new historical problems to solve, but we have also been given tantalizing hints of rewards to come in future excavating seasons.  It seems, therefore, that this is the greatest reward that an archaeologist could hope for.